Two PGG Wrightson Actual Property salespeople reside their very own way of life desires with some attention-grabbing and strange decisions in livestock.
Nick Rattanong sells way of life and residential property with PGG Wrightson Actual Property, Rangiora. Exterior of labor on 20 hectares in Sefton, North Canterbury Nick has developed a pastime that has turn out to be a ardour, breeding pedigree White Galloways.
A docile and intensely cute breed of cow, White Galloways are perfect for a life-style block, as Nick explains.
“Due to their appears they’re typically described because the panda model of a cow. They’re naturally polled, have a quiet nature, and are smaller than breeds like Hereford and Angus, making them simpler to handle, with much less put on and tear on paddocks. Their double coat means they don’t use all their vitality and fats reserves over winter staying heat, enabling a high-quality marbled meat.
“Attracted by their superb look, I purchased my first White Galloways 4 years in the past, and now have a herd of 65. I take advantage of 4 completely different breeding bulls and have sourced cows from Balclutha to Northland, for a various line of genetics to advertise the longevity of what’s categorised as a uncommon breed.
“On a typical way of life block you possibly can comfortably preserve half a dozen White Galloways. They’re a sturdy, hardy breed, which even on tough hill nation or throughout a drought can nonetheless increase a superb calf and premium beef,” he says.
Nick is present vice chairman of the Galloway Society of New Zealand, his stud Mountain View Galloways has Fb followers worldwide, and he sells weaner calves at round six months. The breed’s ease of calving and dominance for well-marked crossbreed calves give his surplus bulls enchantment for heifer mating on dairy farms. He additionally plans to indicate them sooner or later.
Paul Knudsen’s background is completely different to Nick: primarily based at PGG Wrightson Actual Property, Matamata, he has lately come into actual property through a profession proudly owning and dealing in rural Waikato agricultural companies.
For the final 12 years Paul has operated a big scale duck farm, producing 5500 meat birds per week on his Matamata property.
“Relationship again to the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in China, the Pekin duck is the preferred international breed for duck consumption and the idea of the New Zealand duck sector. Geese are a specialised livestock, although a viable possibility on a bigger way of life block, prone to go well with a person or couple downsizing from a extra typical farm, which is how I did it.
“You want roughly one hectare for the geese, ideally secluded from the neighbours, although you want round 15 hectares of grazing pasture on which to make use of the effluent from a duck unit for irrigation.
“Producing geese creates an revenue and offers an curiosity. My geese are sufficient work for one individual full time and one half time. For a pair wanting to do that, in the event that they structured it proper one associate may work off the property,” says Paul.
Whereas organising a brand new duck unit within reason simple, it’s a area of interest sector that requires a few years’ lead time to determine. Processing and advertising duck merchandise, together with the hatchery that provides the ducklings and the pre-fabricated sheds used on duck farms, all fall beneath the administration of Cambridge-based Quack A Duck, which is situated inside 75 kilometres of all of the New Zealand duck farms the corporate providers.
